Everyone is anxious for the holidays and they can’t wait for the sunny or snowy days that bring peacefulness and relaxation. However, there is one category of people who look at holidays with as much dread as they do pleasure: mothers. This is because for them, the holidays mean the whole family will be home, and they’ll have a lot more on their hands than usual. So how can mothers get to plan and organize their holidays and vacations, making sure everything will be as it should, and still get some time for themselves, especially to spend with the rest of the family? One solution is making a holiday calendar.
If you are a busy mother who has to tackle a career, children, the home and other needs – including your own -, then you might consider a holiday calendar, or even a daily planner for all your activities, responsibilities and plans. That way, you will know each day and each week what you need to do, and getting around to things will be much easier. Whether you need to plan summer or winter holidays, you can organize your whole month in advance, thus making sure nothing is forgotten on those special days.
Here is how you can use a holiday calendar in order to make the winter holidays much pleasanter and relaxing for you as well. The safest way is to begin with a wall calendar, or some calendar that you make and print yourself; it should be large enough to allow you to take notes on it. When you complete it, you should begin with the events which are fixed, or occur every year, like dinner at your parents, or any parties and traditions you have. The next step is to log in – write down – all other fixed dates that you have, so you get an idea of what you’ll be needing to do and what free days you have.
On a separate piece of paper, start making a list of all the things you will need to do, such as shopping for gifts and food, decorating the house and tree, calling friends to wish them well, and so on. Try to also figure out how long they would take to accomplish, and use that information to organize the chores in your calendar; for example, chores that last less can be taken care of in the same day. See what chores are easier and funner to do and try to engage the whole family into performing them, so you combine practical activities with quality time.
However, if you want to plan some summer holidays, such as going to the seaside or somewhere visiting, you can use the holiday calendar to organize preparations for your leaving. Similarly, you begin with fixed dates and responsibilities you have to take care of before leaving. Then, you can plan a few dayors for shopping, for packing the bags, making itineraries and checking routes.
As you can see, the holiday calendar can be a great addition to your life, and it can help you regain control of your life. Now you can take charge of all responsibilities head on, and still find some time for yourself.
